William L. Deyo "Night owl"

William L. Deyo was born on 17 September 1949 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is the son of William E. and Jeane (Hudson) Deyo. The blood of the Potomac Indians flows through his mother, but, his father's ancestors had much involvement with American Indians and may even have carried the blood of Chief Totopotomoi through the Dabney family, if, as it is believed, his ancestor, Cornelius Dabney, who was the personal interpreter for Cockacoeske, Queen of the Pamunkey Indians, was presented a woman of her family by her late husband, Totopotomoi, to become his wife, after his English wife, Eedith, died. William E. Deyo had a double descent from the Deyo family, and, from the photographs of the siblings of his great great grandfather, Cyrus Talmadge Deyo, and the DNA results, it appears that the family was of New York or New England Indian descent. One of the New York relatives, Robert Deyo, came to Virginia as a Union soldier during the War Between the States and married a girl of Rappahannock Indian blood, Katherine Clark, daughter of John Clark and Betsy Bird. The 1890 Census of Union Veterans showed that Robert Deyo lived in King and Queen County, Virginia, and claimed to be an Indian from New York. The compiler is in touch with a number of Robert Deyo’s descendants in Virginia and Maryland. 

Bill, as the compiler is generally called, attended James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia, graduating in 1967. He entered the University of Richmond later that year and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1971. During the summers at college and after graduating, he was employed by the National Bank of Fredericksburg. In 1974 he was hired by the Naval Weapons Laboratory, now called the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), at Dahlgren, Virginia, as a purchasing agent. Bill continued to work at NSWC, holding positions as a contract negotiator, cost and price analyst, small and disadvantaged business utilization specialist, specifications writer, and a general business and industrial specialist. In 1992 he received a Masters Certificate in Government Contracting from the School of Business and Public Management of George Washington University. Bill retired from NSWC in 2004 and, after a few months, went back to work for a Government support contractor, Chugach, and returned to NSWC Dahlgren as a data management specialist for a period of 9 years, during which time he became the General Manager of the Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) electronic invoicing system for NSWC Dahlgren, as well as for the Naval Bases at Dam Neck and Wallops Island. In 2014, he became employed by Bowhead Government Services, still in support of NSWC Dahlgren, and worked 6 more years as a Logistics Specialist.

In 1977 Bill Deyo was married to Marilyn (Rose) Lawton, daughter of George T. and Elva (Lumpkin) Rose of King George County, Virginia. He has always thought of his stepdaughter, Laurie, as his own child. Laurie has a daughter of her own, Katherine Michelle, "Katie," who is Bill’s only grandchild. Laurie and her husband, Daniel Meltsner, live in King George County, Virginia. 

Bill Deyo became interested in genealogy at an early age by listening to the many stories about the family history told to him by his grandaunt, Anne Page (Roberson) Hudson, his grandmother, Elizabeth Z. (Roberson) Hudson, his grandfather, Leonard Madison Hudson, and many other elderly relatives. Rarely was there a story told about the ancestry by any of the older relatives without mentioning the Indian blood. Most of the older relatives seemed proud of their Indian heritage even though they and their forebears were born into a society in which a person with Indian blood was considered a "half‑breed" and was looked down upon by many. Bill began taking notes on the known ancestry while only a teenager. His main fascination was the adamant claim by most of the older relatives of the descent from Pocahontas. When in college he quickly learned how to use the research facilities there and at the State Archives. He became a member of the Virginia Genealogical Society in 1969 and became well acquainted with many of the top professional genealogists of the day, including the late George Harrison Sanford King, who gave him much instruction in genealogical research and referred to Bill as his "genealogical apprentice."

During his adult life, Bill has been a member of a number of genealogical or historical societies such as the Huguenot Historical Society of New Paltz, New York, of which he was a member of the "Duzine;" the Connecticut Society of Genealogists; the Augustan Society; the Octavian Society, as a founding member and Fellow; the Society of Kentucky Pioneers, as a founding member; the Knightly Association of St. George the Martyr; and the Virginia Genealogical Society, of which he served on the Board from July 1992 through June 1996, during which time he was president of the Society for a term of two years. Bill was also a member of the Archaeological Society of Virginia and took part in one of the excavations at an Indian village on the Rappahannock River. He received the honor of being knighted into the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem for which he is allowed to use the title, "Sir." Bill was also honored to have been knighted by Prince John de Batemberg into the Knights Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem and was knighted into the Order of St. Basil the Great. Another honor for Bill was to be granted his own personal coat of arms by the Cronista Rey De Armas (King of Arms) of Madrid, Spain. In 2012, Bill was inducted as one of the 16 members of the Keepers of the Knowledge Program by the Stafford Historical Society. The Keepers of the Knowledge are made up of individuals “whose dedication, special witness, and enduring contributions are a vital link in recording and understanding our local, regional and national history.” Each keeper is recognized with a photographic portrait which is presently on display at the Stafford Hospital Center’s educational wing. 

Even though research is Bill's greater enjoyment in genealogy, he has also published and contributed to the publication of a number of books and has written a number of articles. He was at one time on the Editorial Advisory Board of the "Magazine of Virginia Genealogy," for which he wrote various articles. Other articles which he has written have appeared in the "Scottish American Genealogist," the "Kentucky Genealogist," and the "Colonial Genealogist." He has contributed to articles in the "National Genealogical Society Quarterly" and the "American Genealogist." Other non‑genealogical publications to which Bill has contributed are the "Pekingese News," for which he was a regular columnist for the states of Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey (during which time, he and his wife, Marilyn, raised and showed champion bloodline Pekingese), and the scientific book, Fossil Shark and Fish Remains of North America, by Gerrard R. Case, which involves his other great interest of paleontology. A biographical sketch of some of Bill Deyo's accomplishments is given, along with a photo, in Men of Achievement 1988, the 12th edition published by the International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England.

For more than 25 years, Bill has worked with his cousins of Indian blood to reorganize the Patawomeck Indian Tribe and to preserve its rich heritage. The tribe had not been formally organized since 1666 when the English tried to put an end to its existence. It is ironic that the tribe was also saved from extinction by the English, due to the intermarriage of English colonists with the Patawomeck Indians before and after the 1666 massacre. In 1997 the tribe was officially reorganized with a constitution and a tribal council. Robert “Two Eagles” Green was elected as Chief of the tribe. Gary “Walkin Crow” Cooke was elected as Vice Chief. William “Night Owl” Deyo (Bill) was elected as Tribal Historian. The Patawomeck Tribe was soon officially recognized by Stafford County. Bill compiled extensive documentation in the quest for state recognition of the Patawomeck Tribe. He travelled many times with Chief Robert Green and Vice Chief Gary Cooke to meetings of the Virginia Council on Indians in Richmond to present the Tribe’s findings toward gaining state recognition. Finally, in 2009, the documentation was presented to the Virginia State Legislature which granted the Tribe state recognition in February 2010 by the House Joint Resolution No. 150, which was unanimously approved by the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates. Bill continues to do genealogical research and has many genealogical mysteries that he hopes to solve. He is hopeful that DNA research will become a valuable tool in the documentation of lineages.